Traded Thornton too late to get anything back, should have traded him before the season when he still had value.

Nah. You could have acquired a lefty specialist in the offseason in the free agent market for 1/2 that salary.
We know how this goes...no one but Rios and Peavy will bring anything....unless we want to trade one of our young, cost controlled pitchers...and we should certainly listen.

Ex-football player, great athlete, high power potential, low average, low OBP, high K rate.....why does every Sox player have to carry the majority of these attributes? Honestly, I don't get it. I wasn't expecting Bryce Harper in return, but can we not at least start reversing the strategy of only drafting/signing two outcome hitters (ie hit a home run or strike out)?

Ex-football player, great athlete, high power potential, low average, low OBP, high K rate.....why does every Sox player have to carry the majority of these attributes? Honestly, I don't get it. I wasn't expecting Bryce Harper in return, but can we not at least start reversing the strategy of only drafting/signing two outcome hitters (ie hit a home run or strike out)?

Thornton averaged 12 strikeouts per nine innings in 2010, when he was an All-Star. That has dipped steadily since, to 6.8 this season. But he still averages 94-95 mph with his fastball and has hit 97 in recent games.
Red Sox pitching coach Juan Nieves was the bullpen coach of the White Sox for five years and has a lot of familiarity with Thornton.
“There is a certain comfort level there,” Cherington said. “The number one thing is the track record. He is a proven lefthanded relief pitcher and has been effective in the American League for a long time.”

Jacobs, 22, was a 10th round pick in the 2009 draft. The athletic outfielder hit .244 with 11 home runs and 44 RBIs for Single A Salem before a recent promotion to Double A Portland.
"He was the most impactful player available to us,” White Sox general manager Rich Hahn said.
Hahn told Chicago reporters that seven or eight teams were interested in Thornton.

If Jacobs was the #11 prospect in Boston's system, that immediately makes him a top 10 prospect in our system. So on paper, it sems like a good return to me (for an aging lefty specialist that can't close).

However, in reading the brief scouting notes on Jacobs, what I got is: toolsy football player that can't hit. Just what we need more of in our system! Maybe the Sox think that if we acquire enough players of this profile, eventually one of them will turn into Carl Crawford.

All in all, not thrilled with Jacobs but can't really complain about what Hahn did here.

I hope the return we got for Matt Thornton recalibrates everyone's expectations on what the return will be when the Sox trade Crain. In general, teams aren't willing to part with top prospects for relief pitchers.

Thornton has been a disaster this year.
This is a salary dump,pure and simple.
Jacobs is a roll of the dice,but really folks...when was the last time you were happy to see Matt enter the game in a close contest?

Thankfully,he had the 1-2-3 inning vs the Tigers on Thursday...his best outing of the year.